Friday, 13 December 2013

So this evening I sat down after a crappy day and Bimble's Christmas present had arrived. (He's going to bloody love it!) I really wanted to tell you all about it, but then I thought..."Nobody has a clue who 'Bimble' is!?"....So here, for you my friends, is a post dedicated, in honour of, and for the love of...BIMBLE!

So...from the very beginning! Who is Bimble? Bimble is my uncle Tim. He's called either Tim, Timmy, Bimble (because he always bimbles around, you can't hurry him to do anything!) or Wimby (A shortened version of Bimble). He lives with my parents on the other side of town, and before they passed away, with my Grandparents in the same house. He loves Duran Duran, The Muppets, The Spice Girls (I think that one may be my fault!), Radio Times, ANY programme that's British and made before 1990 (Thank my Grandpa for that) and scary movies (Thank my mum for that!).

Bimble and I practically grew up together. You see, he has downsyndrome and when he was born, things were different. It was hard for families to cope. As my mum's brother she got bullied because nobody really understood what it meant. Children can be really cruel.

Me on the other hand, as you can see here one Christmas when I was younger, had no idea he was different in any way until about the age of 6 or 7. To me he was just always my fun Uncle who liked really old fashioned things, but was really ticklish like me. Gold star in my book! My Grandparents kept him wrapped in bubble wrap. I remember once when he was winding me up at the age of 8 or 9 and I called him stupid. My Nanny went MENTAL! I've never seen her so angry since that day. I didn't understand?! You can't blame her, she was right to do so, and I didn't mean any harm, I just didn't want to watch Dads Army!

We moved to Cornwall about 10 years ago. It was because my Grandparents had a lot of health problems. My parents wanted a better upbringing for me in a safer part of the country, and we wanted to be there for when the inevitable happened. Bimble was never even considered to go into a home. He would always be with us, he's our family! And when my Grandparents passed away in 2011, that's just what happened. My mum gave up any work, my parents moved into my Grandparents house, she became his carer full time, and everything stayed exactly the same for Bimble...with one difference...

He blossomed.

First he wanted a new haircut. No more bowl cut my Grandparents had settled for. He went to the Hairdressers, had the whole caboodle! He started walking more, happy to go along the beach or walk in the woods. He got cheekier. Forever playing pranks on my Dad, chasing him around the kitchen, or otherwise taunting him. His speech improved tenfold. My parents have and continue, to refuse to mollycoddle him. Bimble loves independence now. From cutting up his own food, to cleaning up after himself. Some days my mum comes upstairs on a Sunday and he'll have made her a cup of coffee and bowl of cereal. He started developing a sense of style. Demanding that my mum and dad redecorate his room into bright colours. He became more confident in himself. By no longer being scared by all dogs (my parents have 2, it'd be pretty hard to stay scared), to watching scary movies without his eyes closed the entire time! He's blossomed in a way that none of us knew he would. We go to the cinema now, although he nearly always starts choking on the popcorn! He speaks to me on the phone some mornings on my walk to work, whilst my poor mum is trying to get him ready and him and I are shouting at her together. My mum has sacrificed a large amount of herself to make this work, and should anything happen to her and my dad; it'd be me doing exactly the same. I remember sitting down with Harps after we'd been together a few years and said "You know, if anything, he's part of me. I'd be there for him." Thankfully Harps and Bimble love eachother and Harps accepts and embraces that eventually, he will outlive my parents. He will become my responsibility and that suits me just fine. We are all here for him, and he's more than there for us. Just think for a minute about that love between a brother and sister. Mum is Bimble's world. As much as he tells her to "pack her clothes and move to London", the love between them is so special and pure that I find it beautiful. Then there are the little moments, like when he comes and sits with you, holds your hand and tells you he loves you. Or when he comes home from work (I'll post all about that in my next post) with something he made. It's worth it isn't it?

So the thing is, Bimble is who keeps everything together. He makes us laugh when we least expect it. If he pops into work with my mum and gives me a cuddle, it's sure to brighten my day. If I'm on the phone to my mum and he's repeating literally every word she's saying. It makes me laugh! If he goes into town with ANY of us, he's sure to see at LEAST 10 people he knows, and stop, and talk to every single one of them! If he sees a pretty girl in a shop, he will literally tear your arm off if it means going in there to flirt with her. And never go into WHSmiths (or any other perfectly good newsagents...infact most are better, it's just all St Austell has) with him, because IT WILL embarrass you being dragged towards the sex magazines and trying to inconspicuously drag him back in the opposite direction!

Our Christmas tree is finally up! And I love it! Last year I decorated it on my own and it was fun, but no where near as fun as decorating it with Harps! I sat making paperchains whilst he untangled the lights. Then we put the tree together (we have a fake one from when we first got together and I wanted a real one this year but wasn't sure how Batman would react) and I wrapped my really thin paperchains all around it! Then we put on the lights and started on the baubles (I hate tinsel EUGHH) and our handmade decorations I get every year from my best friend Stacie. She also has a blog, and she's a pretty fucking awesome designer!

Batman was SO curious whilst all this was going on! He barely left my side! I think he's decided he's kind of scared of it now...he sort of sniffs at it, realises that it isn't hay or straw and runs the opposite direction! He fucking loves wrapping paper though! Literally EVERYTHING has little Batman chew marks on it! So much so that I've had to wrap up his Christmas presents early, JUST so as I can put them at the front under our tree! Hahaha, so now when he tries to chew, he's just opening his presents bit by bit!

Also, every year Harps and I have a contest to see who can come up with the best tree topper! This year, however we joined forces and bring you.......GLADIATOR TIGER!

On Sunday morning, I got up at crazy o'clock for a Sunday (like 8am!) and went out to shoot with my wonderful friend and talented artist, Tracey Warbey. Anyone who's read a few posts before will know that I spend a lot of time letting out my arty farty side with this lovely lady. If you have read my other posts, you will know we went out a few Sundays ago to Bodmin Jail! It was really fun and here's a few of the shots that she captured; I think you'll agree she's awesome!

Anywhoo, this was a few weeks ago! Gosh I'm behind on writing to you all! So back to Sunday just gone (December 8th) we went out again to a small woods near Charlestown to find some lovely leaves! We did a pretty good job and I felt like a little hedgehog burrowing in them to get the shots we wanted! It was so much fun! Here's some behind the scenes pictures and the first of the edited ones!

Speaking of festive spirit, look at the pretty lights in St Austell town centre! They drape all along the street...I wonder if I could borrow them for my wedding??! haha! These are the only good ones to be honest, the rest are a bit lame, so I didn't bother with those!

Also I have actually got a pair of jeans! I only had one pair and they were mens, so I'm not sure if that counts? I always find it really hard to get a pair that I like; they never seem to fit right or have some sort of embellishment or design on them. But I saw these the other day in TKMaxx and they are perfect! Nice colour ey?

And to finish off, aren't't Batman's feet cute! I hate feet but I think I found an exception :-)

Thursday, 5 December 2013

EEEEEKKKKKKK! 20 DAYS TO GO! How damn fast has this year gone?! I have always been a bit of a Scrooge up until last year, Christmas had always been a bit overrated, never a particular good time of year and really...just...crap..However, last year I was proved completely wrong! I decided I was going to give it all one more shot and boy did I go for it! I watched every Christmas film on, made snowflakes, paper chains and decorations (which I am VERY excited about doing again on Sunday) and threw myself into the festivities! I loved it. I had an awesome time, and cannot wait for this year.

So the other day, Harp's family asked for our Christmas list...and well, it was hard. There just isn't anything I really want that I could think of. It's my birthday in January so I always keep my best list for then ;-). So I knew I wanted books (I always want books, see me on Goodreads) and then I ended up finding a few other pretty things...

There's this amazing book that I am more desperate to receive more than anything! It's called;

Doesn't that sound magical?!?!? And even better is the front cover! It's like it was made for me! I hope I get it! I'm gonna wear a sheriff outfit when I'm reading it and will keep you all up to date with my new money making scheme!

I also will be more than happy with a new watch! I've stopped wearing one in recent years, but I'm kind of looking for certain "everyday" jewellery now. Isn't this ASOS rose gold style 'globe' one beautiful?! I don't mind that the chronograph is just for show, it makes pretty decoration!

Good evening lovely world! I apologise for not catching up sooner! To be honest with you, I could lie about my busy busy life (which is partially true) but more importantly, I actually had a hangover that lasted TWO DAYS! TWO WHOLE DAYS! And my recovery on Tuesday was short lived; due to my twisted ankle, that I can only assume is from being a party princess at the weekend. I expect no sympathy.

To be honest with you all, I don't really drink. There are a few reasons. Firstly, I just don't like feeling gross the next day. I really don't think that the feeling of being drunk outweighs the after effects! Secondly, and probably more importantly, my family kind of has a love/hate relationship with it. My father drank a lot when I was younger (never bring red wine near me) and we used to go on holiday together once a year. By this time my parents had split and he'd get wasted from like 6pm and it'd just be a nightmare. This kept happening until I was 12 when I didn't want to go anymore. I called him the night before we were supposed to leave and told him. He was obviously heartbroken. I wanted him to go alone, some time with his thoughts, clear his head...maybe change his spots? Naive. We haven't spoken in over ten years now. I think drink can destroy families. Both my mum and my step-dad have also struggled with it, but are better now. My step-dad has been sober for over two years now! Isn't that brilliant! Anywhoo, for these reasons it's rare that I'll turn to drink for a good time. Give me a cuppa and I'm just as awesome!

On special occasions (or if I fancy)....I will drink...This happened last Saturday.....this is all I can tell you..

.

The rest is blurry....and painful...and blurry..

All I know is I thought I was dying on Sunday. No amount of sleep/food/vomit (yes I know gross, sorry) could save me.....as for Monday...almost as bad to be honest...until the ankle..

So yes finally, it has been over a month since Harps put me in his pocket forever and it's been a month since I flew up to cloud 9. So far I haven't changed my mind and decided to run away...Nor has he revealed some really horribly disgusting habit that I didn't know about (it has been 5 years!)....And THAT guys, is something to drink for.

My name is Sophie Louise Anne, I live in Cornwall with my pretty boy, Harps and my even prettier rabbit, Batman. I am often described as weird because of my love of cats, fancy dress, old people, tea, cake, dresses, T-Rex's and laughing at my own jokes. I'm a bit of a mind-wanderer, peacemaker, basic baker, tattoo addict, wanderluster and book worm. I really DISLIKE feet, any spoon larger than a teaspoon, mannequins, Nicholas Cage (Offensive face) and Arnold 'I'm a robot in real life' Schwarzenegger. Creep.
Have a gander about me right.. here.